Recently in Money management Category

Do you know how to balance your checkbook? (Or am I dating myself with even the mention of checks?!) If you do know what I’m talking about, then perhaps a better question since I suspect everyone knows how to do basic math – Do you actually balance your checkbook? I’m the first to admit that I do not (ironic considering I work for a bank, I know!).

Back in college, I would make half-hearted attempts, but would inevitably forget to record a cash withdrawal, check deposit or debit card transaction at some point. My ATM receipt was my sole means of ensuring that I had “enough money” in my account (despite only having a vague idea of what “enough money” meant). Sound familiar?

But now I’m an adult who’s responsible for more than just myself, and I have regular expenses that I can’t go without paying. Well, I technically could but then my child would go hungry and we’d be kicked out of our home (hello diapers and formula, mortgage payments and property tax!). Thankfully, my financial institution (Wells Fargo of course) has recently launched Cash Flow Monitor, a very cool tool that I really, really wish existed when I was in college.

How Cash Flow Monitor (CFM) Works

Say you’re in school and have your monthly rent, cell phone and cable/internet bills and car loan payments. You have one-off purchases like that new laptop for school or books for the new semester. Maybe you have a part-time job as a barista at the local coffee shop and some cash from your parents on a regular basis.

How do you keep track of all the money going in and out of your account? Here’s how CFM could come in handy:

• Plan ahead. You no longer need to do mental math to figure out how much money will be left after you’ve paid your bills. CFM will take care of that for you!
• Take control and don’t get dinged. The Cash Cushion (as determined by you) lets you quickly see (and act on) potential low balance days.
• Automate it. Schedule your payments using bill pay or transfers and let the bank take care of paying your bills on time – one less thing for you to think about when you’re in the midst of midterms.

And a quick tip that I’ve found to be useful that I want to pass along – CFM knows what Wells Fargo knows, which means that the more you tell it (i.e., the more transactions you add to bill pay, transfers, etc.) the better it will be at estimating your future balances.

Check out CFM and tell us what you think!

We’re still beta testing CFM, which means we would love for people like you to try it out and provide your feedback so we can make it even better. You will need to be an existing Wells Fargo customer (i.e., have a checking account and access to online banking).

1. Go to https://labs.wellsfargo.com/cm
2. Log in using your existing Wells Fargo online username/password
3. Start using CFM and tell us what you think via the surveys sprinkled throughout the tool or via the feedback link in the tool

Thanks in advance for your input. We can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to act on every bit of feedback we get, but we do promise to try!

The next few months will be the heart of college planning for many high school seniors. It’s when you complete the FAFSA, receive your award letter and make your decisions about financial aid, including student loans.

Because it’s a busy time of year, it’s a good idea to keep helpful financial aid tools at your fingertips, so you can look up information and get answers to your questions as quickly as possible.

Following is a list of helpful tools to keep handy as you make important college financing decisions:

CollegeSTEPS® program: if you haven’t already, sign up for this program at wellsfargo.com/collegesteps and get access to all kinds of helpful college-planning information including a guide to student loans, checklists for senior year, tips for finding scholarships and more.

Wells Fargo Community: If you want to learn more or connect with others who can help as you go through the financial aid process, check out The Wells Fargo Community. It’s is a great place to ask questions, share knowledge, and learn from each other. Find it at wellsfargocommunity.com.

Wells Fargo College Planning Center & Calculators: Not sure how much to borrow for college? Want to know each step you need to take when taking out a student loan? Check out the College Planning Center & Calculators at wellsfargo.com/student.

Budget: Get started on the right foot when it comes to money management by making a budget. Use our Cash Flow Worksheet to map out how you’ll spend your money in college and stay in control of your finances.

In addition to these online tools, don’t hesitate to call your school’s financial aid office or your student loan lender as you work through the process of securing money for college. They’re both ready to help.

Do you know how much your latte costs over the course of a year? If you spend $3.50 a day 6 days a week to include study time, you spend $84.00/month. Per year, that adds up to $1,008! What do you have to show for it? Coffee stains on your favorite shirt and yellow teeth? So how do you make sure your wallet stays healthy?

You know the basics.

Spending shouldn’t exceed your income, you should keep track of what you spend, know the difference between needs (food, shelter) and wants (concert tickets, a daily latte) and plan accordingly, but how do you make all of that knowledge work for you?

Be responsible for your own destiny.

Take ownership of your own finances starting now. You are in charge of your life, right? Who knows you best? You have the power to choose the way you want to live now and into the future, so how do you go about matching your income level to your lifestyle choice? Creating a spending plan can help you get there and can lead to long-term financial stability, an attractive quality both personally and professionally. (It is possible for employers to request financial background checks )

Creating a Spending Plan.

A spending plan is a great way to understand how your money comes and goes and helps you manage it. It can help identify areas where you can cut expenses and increase savings. Start with tracking your spending for one or two months to see how much money is being spent daily and monthly. Your income includes Work-Study, money earned from a job or even an allowance. Then itemize your expenses into categories like, rent, food, utilities, education, entertainment, etc. and keep in mind the differences between fixed, variable and discretionary expenses:

Fixed: Expenses that do not change from month to month. (Rent, monthly parking fee or car payment)

Variable: Expenses that have the ability to change each month. (Electric bill depending on how many lights you leave on or the water bill)

Discretionary: Expenses that you choose to spend money on. (Going out to dinner, ordering a latte, cell phone usage, movies, concerts, etc.)

A Cash Flow worksheet is a great tool to use to illustrate income and expenses in a simple format.

Once you have completed the above tasks, take your total income column and subtract your total expenses column to get a new total. What are the results? Is your wallet experiencing flu like symptoms or feeling happy and healthy? Ask yourself what adjustments can be made to ensure you are living the lifestyle you want but are not living paycheck to paycheck because your favorite band keeps calling.

Nothing is ever written in stone.

Go with the flow and make adjustments on an ongoing basis. $21 a week in savings equals $1,092 in a year — and over $5400 in five years! Seriously, is that latte really worth it?

How to make it work for you.

Write your goal today and put it on paper along with a timeline. Tips on making effective goal writing include:

• Be specific and realistic; You know yourself best
• Start with small, short-term goals (a 6 month goal)
• Add longer-term goals as well (1 year, 5 years)

Healthy wallet = Happier life

Remember, a spending plan is only good if you have money to spend. Being financially savvy shows a great deal of maturity because it shows you understand the difference between wanting to do something and being able to pay for it and apply it to your daily life. We tend to live in a society where we want instant gratification, yet there are some serious pitfalls—including bankruptcy—we can encounter if we live in the moment. By following these steps you should be well on your way to having a healthy wallet and the happy lifestyle you choose.

The holidays are a fun and exciting time, but can also be expensive. For students and recent graduates who are on a budget, I found this great article on how to watch your pennies during the sales rush. Here are a few tips I would like to add:

1. Make a list of people who you want to give gifts to and how much you want to spend and stick to it! Chances are someone will give you a gift that you did not plan for but that does not mean you have to give one back. If you want to reciprocate be creative and look for ways to show thanks without spending much money
2. A good way to stretch out your dollars is to hit the kitchen and bake. Everyone loves getting a homemade batch of cookies or their favorite pie as a gift. In today’s world of food allergies, making these, using a “gluten free” recipe for instance, can be even more special.
3. If you are buying gifts for family members back home, pay attention to online retailers who offer free shipping and gift wrapping. If you are flying, you do not have to pay the extra baggage fee. Also, buying wrapping paper and bags to cover gifts can be expensive, wasteful and time consuming.
4. If you are going to buy wrapping paper, consider splitting the cost with a roommate or friend. Usually it is cheaper to buy the larger rolls and sharing it lowers the cost and cuts down on the waste.

These are just a couple of quick ideas to help you stretch out your dollars over the holidays!

Everyone likes to travel, but trying to get the most out of our weekend is really important. Cost of travel is usually the main concern for everyone involved. There are many sites that offer discount airfare and hotels but I'd like to suggest something that has worked well for me and my friends. Instead of staying at a hotel, consider staying at a vacation rental. Technology has made the process much easier, and has opened up the availability. Here are some tips that have worked for us:

1. If you are traveling with 3 or more people, vacation rentals are the way to go. Most rentals do not increase the cost if you add people, and if they do it is usually minimal. Hotels can add charges per night based on two or more people and may require additional rooms for more than 4 people.
2. You do not have to rent only for a week or more at a time; many will rent for less than a week. The listings include a calendar that shows the cost per-night, peak season and availability. Check to see if the place has reservations around your date. If not, the owner may be willing to take a reservation for less than a week. We have had great luck with this in the past, and it never hurts to ask. Also, if you're arriving late or need a late check-out, let the owners know early and it is usually not an issue if they don't have anyone else coming that day. Even if they do, they can be very accommodating and may work with you. We have had great luck with this including a check-out at 9:00pm one night at no extra charge. This gave us another full day to sight-see and then take showers before the long 10 hour flight home.
3. There is more space to spread out in an apartment versus a hotel. The apartments have a living area and some come with balconies too. Not to mention multiple bedrooms and bathrooms to share based on your budget. There is also the benefit of multiple televisions and sometimes even stereo systems and small home theaters. If you are looking for a pool, gym, laundry facility etc. hunt around. Many apartments come with access to these amenities and many homes have them included.
4. Wi-Fi is included at no extra charge for everyone who stays. Again this can be a savings as many hotels charge a fee for Wi-Fi and some are charging by device. We have had full computer systems in several of the units we have rented which is nice, too. Make sure your vacation rental is connected.
5. Vacation rentals come with kitchens so you can cook a few meals at home to save money. Even if you can eat one meal a day at home, it can save $30-$40 a person and more during a getaway. We have always tried to eat breakfast in the rental before heading out, and have cooked full meals in the kitchens which were especially nice. If you like to cookout, many come with the use of a grill, too, which can be fun.
6. Location, location, location! The ability to stay in the heart of the action is an advantage too. Many hotels are popular and expensive in the desired areas and vacation rentals offer a great and affordable option. Figure out which areas you would like to visit and search for vacation rentals nearby. Most listings provide a physical address that you can check on Google maps for an exact location. Look for the proximity to public transportation if you are relying on that to get around. If you have a rental car, see about parking. Most have it at no additional cost. Also if you are into restaurants, bars, nightlife etc. check the proximity to these things, too. We usually research the desirable areas and then narrow our selections down from there.
7. There are options available at many price ranges. Be sure to check multiple listings and compare prices and location to make sure you are getting a good deal. Airbnb, HomeAway and Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO) are great options that offer protection for the renter and the owner. We have used all of these and have not had any issues. For the more adventuresome, Craigslist offers some great deals on vacation rentals direct from the owner. These are usually a bit cheaper because there is not a middleman. I would suggest that you only consider vacation rentals that have pictures. The better owners will post not only external pictures but also of every room including the bedrooms bathrooms and any amenities. They will include pictures of the size of the bed in the bedrooms, so you know that if they say there is a queen-size bed it is a queen-size bed. If the owner does not have, or is not willing to provide pictures, that could be a red flag. Also, if the owner asks for full payment upfront or an unreasonable deposit to hold your reservation, I would be leery.

As I have said, vacation rentals have been very good to me and I swear by them when I travel overseas. They provide a significant savings and have been very nice places in great locations. Be sure to make a list of what you require to help with your search. Also, the owners are wealth of information on the “local’s” point of view on where to eat and where to go. Many are also able to give you economical airport transfer advice and some will even pick you up for a small fee. We have had great luck with vacation rentals, so the next time you are looking for a way to save money on your next vacation, try a rental over a hotel.

One of the things that I’ve always done to manage my finances is now being built as a tool for all Wells Fargo customers, and you have a chance to try it out and influence its final design. The Cash Flow Monitor is now accessible to our customers through our innovation labs website. It imports all of the information available from your Wells Fargo accounts to help you see when you will have some extra money to move into your savings account for that guitar that you’ve been eyeing, your next road-trip, or maybe a start-up fund to help you move into your first apartment. It also helps you see when you will be low on cash with enough warning to actually do something about it.

The Cash Flow Monitor works like this: it lays out, in calendar form, all of the upcoming bill payments that you have in your Online Bill Pay, money transfers that you’ve already scheduled, and pulls all of your direct deposit history to estimate when your next paycheck will come in and how much it will be. You can add in other expenses that you are aware of, like extra money coming in or checks that you have written that have not yet cleared your account. Your daily balances will show up in black if all is good, low balance days are highlighted in orange, and any days that you’re running a negative balance will show up in a bright warning red. (You can set the ‘low balance’ warning level yourself to whatever dollar amount makes you pay attention).

Right now, this tool is still in development, and our friends in the lab would love to hear what you think of it. If this sounds interesting, please log in, experiment with the tool, and give us your feedback. After trying this myself, I can say that it beats the heck out of my home-made spreadsheet planning, and is even easier to set up than Mint.com.

How do you currently manage your finances? Would you like to see a tool like this in addition to the other money management tools we already offer?

There are all kinds of money-related subjects to cover with your kids before sending them off to college: the importance of saving, budgeting, managing a bank account, etc. And if their eyes are glazing over in boredom at these topics, maybe you can get their attention with this one: credit.

October 18 is Get Smart About Credit Day, and it’s as good an excuse as any to start talking with your high school and college-aged kids about credit: what it is, how it’s used, why it’s important, and why it’s critical that they learn how to manage it properly.

There are a few ways to make credit education more exciting for kids. If you’re okay with being open about your finances, maybe give them a peek at your credit card bill. Let them see how the interest is calculated and how it adds up over time. Let them know how you go about managing credit use and payment of bills each month.

If you have a college student, you may want to encourage them to get started building credit using a card with features designed especially for college students.

As a parent, if you’d like some help giving your kids an education on credit, check out our Student Credit Education page.

When it comes to paying for college, put the hunt for scholarships at the top of your priority list. Even if you’re not a superstar student or athlete, there are still scholarships out there. They may not be huge, but every little bit counts, so don’t discount even seemingly small scholarships.

Visit with your school guidance counselor to get some directions what scholarships you should apply for. Ask your parents if their workplaces or civic organizations offer scholarships. Check online, of course. Scholarship search engines can help you quickly tailor your search.

If you know where you’re going to college, be sure to talk with the financial aid office and see if they can help you with your search as well. If you volunteer anywhere or are affiliated with any type of organizations, those are good places to check as well.

Once you line up some scholarships to apply for, take careful note of the due dates, and work on them accordingly.

Give yourself plenty of time to devote to the scholarship hunt and application process. It may seem like a lot of work when you don’t have a lot of time to spare, but in the end, it’s worth it to secure college money that doesn’t need to be repaid.

If you’ve earned scholarships for college, do have any advice to share with high schoolers?

Hang on. This isn’t going to be a post about how fun it is to “shop” in your friends’ closet, scour the internet for coupons, or cook at home (all good ways to save money, by the way).

Sometimes there are less painful ways save money. If you’re in college, it’s possible that your finances are already lean and mean. But, maybe they’re not. In my family, we recently reviewed our bills and made a few quick changes that can save us over $50 a month. And honestly, the time investment was less than a half hour.

Take a few minutes and try it for yourself.

Review your cell phone bill. I was bummed that we went over our allotted minutes this past month--$18 extra dollars for a few minutes of chatting. A quick check of our cell phone provider’s website revealed a new deal that we didn’t know about.  One phone call later, our cell phone bill got knocked down by about $30 a month. Awesome.

Check out your TV/internet bill. First, make sure it’s correct and that you’re not being charged for services you’re not using. Then consider whether you can change up your package to something less expensive. Are you bundling your services in a smart way? If you’re not sure, call your service provider. They can review your account to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

Services/subscriptions. Is there anything you’re not using that could be cut? Once we trimmed back the cell phone bill, we started looking at other things. We quickly decided we could drop two different services, saving us another $30 a month. Think about things like movie subscriptions, gym memberships and the like. If you’re using them, great, but if not—why are you paying?

Not only is this a great exercise for college students, it’s a smart thing for parents to do as well. A few small changes can often make a big difference.

One of the greatest parts about being a Hands on Banking^SM program regional manager is the occasional opportunity to trade my Wells Fargo desk job for a classroom by volunteering to be teacher for a day. During Wells Fargo’s participation in the American Bankers Association’s “Teach Children to Save” campaign, over 1,700 Wells Fargo volunteers taught in thousands of classrooms reaching nearly 89,000 students. I was lucky to be a part of the team that helped train volunteers and organize events for the campaign and was also able to teach classes.

Using content from the Hands on Banking program, volunteers used 45-minute lesson plans to teach students from 4th grade to college the importance of using a spending plan, making trade-offs and saving.

My favorite part about the campaign was teaching high school students how to use a personal monthly budget. When I was 16, I had no idea what the monthly cost of rent was or how much gas for the car costs. I only knew how much prom tickets were and how much to save for the year book. This is why it was especially exciting for me to witness high school students grapple with costs and budgets for the first time.

The high school mini-lesson features an exercise in which students must imagine they are in one of two scenarios: successful working professionals or starving college students. Based on their identity and imagined life situation, I asked students to develop a monthly spending plan which allowed them to save at least 10% of their income. I provided a cost of living sheet for an imagined placed called “Anytown USA.” Students had to make tough choices between expenses like a new car versus riding the bus or having three roommates instead of one. It was quite fascinating observing students as they considered these questions. Students belted out “Ms. Gonzalez, can I please have 5 roommates so I can drive the newer car?” Or “Ms. Gonzalez, why can’t I just sew my own clothes?” I knew they were having fun and learning the importance of making trade-offs. Some students even commented that the activity made them think twice about asking their parents for expensive things.

The teachers I spoke to after having their class complete this exercise really appreciate that it was an interactive way for students to practice what they just learned about budgeting. At the end of the lesson, students were asked what sacrifices they had to make in order to be able to save 10% of their income each month or what they would do with their savings considering their stage in life. Judging from the thoughtful discussion that ensued, I did my part introducing these very important concepts.

Individuals from 4th grade to seniors can learn more about important personal finance through on-line learning modules by visiting our website www.handsonbanking.org.